Explosives and security risk substances on mine sites – roles and responsibilities current as of December

Introduction The dangerous goods and mines safety legislation are complementary: –Dangerous Goods Safety Act 2004 and Explosives and Security Risk Substances Regulations provide for explosives and dangerous goods, including security risk substances (SRS), safety and security within a licensing regime –Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 and regulations address occupational safety and health of persons who work at mines

Explosives regulations – qualified officer Responsible for safety and security of any explosive and SRS possessed by licence holder Responsible for implementation of explosives management plan (EMP) –e.g. inventory management, stocktakes, inspections, EMP auditing, individuals licensed, cleared and trained Must be current employee and have dangerous goods security card More than one person may be nominated

Mines safety regulations – responsible person Principal employer at the mine, any other employer at the mine and the mine manager Each responsible person at a mine is to ensure that the manufacture, storage, transport, supply, use and disposal of any explosive at the mine is in accordance with the Dangerous Goods Safety Act 2004 and regulations, including the EMP

Explosives regulations – EMPs EMPs are prepared to: –demonstrate that risks have been adequately assessed in relation to safety, security and emergency response matters –provide assurance that control measures are adequate Use of the EMP template provided by Resources Safety is not mandatory but its use will ensure consistency in its application and streamline the review process. EMPs are reviewed by Resources Safety as part of the licensing process for licences to manufacture explosives, manufacture explosives for a mobile processing unit (MPU), and store or transport explosives

Explosives and SRS Regulations – secure nominee Must be –Under the management control of the licence holder (as an employee or contractor) and authorised by licence holder to have unsupervised access to explosives or SRS –Trained to safely handle explosives or SRS –Hold a dangerous goods security card Secure nominee may have unsupervised access to explosives or SRS May supervise individuals who are not secure employees Must have the security card with them at all times when in possession of explosives or SRS

Explosives Regulations – magazine keeper Licence holder must appoint magazine keeper(s) to be in charge of each magazine held by the licensee Magazine keeper responsible for: –Housekeeping (Section 4.3) –Maintenance (Section 4.4) –Materials handling equipment (Section 4.5) –Management (section 4.6) –Maintenance of records (Section 4.7) Magazine keeper must be a secure nominee

Explosives Regulations – shotfirer Must have a shotfiring licence valid for the blasting activity (i.e. surface, underground) Must have a dangerous goods security card and be a secure nominee of the licence holder Nominated shotfirer to sign off on blast plan and control the blasting operation Person who fires the shot must be a shotfirer or supervised by a shotfirer

Explosives and SRS Regulations – inventory management Explosives or SRS storage licensee must keep a proper inventory –Details of each explosive or SRS received or dispatched –Date and time of receipt or dispatch –Person who received or dispatched explosives or SRS –Licence details for person receiving or dispatching –Quantity of explosives or SRS stored after receipt or dispatch –Records kept for two years Failure to keep accurate records may invalidate the explosives or SRS storage licence

Incident reporting Person in control or management of explosives must report to a Dangerous Goods Officer as soon as practicable: –any incident involving explosives –any malfunction of explosives, not involving a misfire –theft or attempted theft of an explosive Dangerous goods incident reporting form and guideline are available on Resources Safety website Mine manager must also report incidents as per the mines safety legislation (done as normal through online Safety Regulation System)

Useful links Visit Resources Safety’s dangerous goods and explosives on mine sites page for further resources